Over the past few weeks cities all around the United States have been reporting an increase in fireworks. And it’s quickly becoming clear that murmurs on Twitter aren’t just hearsay or the result of quarantine-induced noise sensitivity. According to Gothamist, fireworks complaints in New York City have increased by a whopping 230% since last year. And Twitter users have begun theorizing that the increase may actually be due to something more sinister. 

The most widely circulated theory right now is that the increase in fireworks leads back to the police, or even that the CIA is supplying fireworks to rowdy teens as a sort of psychological operation to deprive citizens of sleep and desensitize them to the sounds of warfare. Other conspiracy theories suggest that police are supplying and setting off fireworks and ignoring complaints to make themselves feel needed in the wake of calls to defund them. And there’s been a lot of weird police activity that backs up this attitude – take this bizarre show from police vehicles in Harlem – at 3am. 

While some of the tweets we’ve been seeing mock and meme the theories, they’re being taken seriously enough to inspire inquiries from investigative journalists and have even led to a writer having to apologize for retweeting speculation on the matter. Many people seem to think the explanations are a simple combination of inexpensive surplus fireworks (due to Covid-19 cancellations) and, well, let’s face it: fireworks are fun. And while the theories may seem far-fetched, they’re a hell of a lot more entertaining than anything pertaining to 5G. So we’re happy to watch the truth unfold – whatever it may be.